IMDb > Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
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Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 70 | slideshow) Videos (see all 22)
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) -- An exploration of the relationship between Elizabeth I and the adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) -- Clip: Mary Stuart is accused of treason
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) -- Interview: Clive Owen "On the chemistry between Elizabeth and Raleigh"
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) -- Nearly a decade after first portraying Britain's Queen Elizabeth I, Cate Blanchett returns to the screen in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," telling Harry Smith about the challenges met by the sequel.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) -- An exploration of the relationship between Elizabeth I and the adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh.

Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   19,853 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 15% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
William Nicholson (written by) and
Michael Hirst (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Elizabeth: The Golden Age on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 October 2007 (USA) more
Tagline:
Woman. Warrior. Queen. more
Plot:
A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 13 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(76 articles)
A.R. Rahman opens up a music store - News
 (From GlamSham. 5 December 2009, 6:29 AM, PST)

Free Lecture with Craig Armstrong in Aberdeen, UK
 (From SCOREcastOnline.com. 30 November 2009, 3:30 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Ambitious period film. more (186 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Elizabeth - Das goldene Königreich (Germany)
Elizabeth - L'âge d'or (France)
The Golden Age (UK) (working title)
more
Runtime:
114 min
Country:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The director, Shekhar Kapur, felt that color should reveal the internal life of the characters. Alexandra Byrne (costume designer) did not want to use blue on Elizabeth since it was not a color of that period. But Shekhar insisted because he felt that blue was the color of yearning and aspiring and he wanted to portray Elizabeth as yearning to be divine and immortal. Likewise, he conveyed the close relationship of Elizabeth and Bess by showing them in similar colors/gown styles and as their relationship separates, the colors are contrasting and even clashing. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: In a scene in which Elizabeth is speaking with another character with a fireplace in the background, blue gas flames are visible at the bottom of the fire, notably in the bottom right corner of it. more
Quotes:
Sir Walter Raleigh: I think it must be hard for so great a Queen to know the simple pleasure of being liked for herself.
Queen Elizabeth I: Now you grow dull.
more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Coronation Banquet more

FAQ

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45 out of 71 people found the following comment useful.
Ambitious period film., 16 October 2007
Author: Blueghost from the San Francisco Bay Area

I hadn't heard too much about this film, but had seen the posters for it, so I gave it a shot. And after leaving the theatre I really wasn't sure what to say about it.

There's a lot of good stuff in this film, but there're some pitfalls as well. On the plus side the sets and costumes are magnificent. A great deal of care and love when into the art direction to bring us an Elizabethan renaissance film, replete with court intrigue and foreign emissaries who threaten invasion because of high seas thievery courtesy Clive Owen's character. Visually this film is very lush and impressive, though somewhat confining at times. We're never really shown Elizabethan England, just the "important parts" that are salient to the story.

And, as Elizabeth's favorite playwright would say, "there's the rub". And by this I mean that the film is a bit all over the place. It's a costume drama, it's a romance, it's a period political thriller, it's a military epic, and so forth. It even skids the fantasy genre with some of the fancy camera work that was done. But, all in all, the film's primary thrust is to try and grab hold of all of these genres, and tie them together into some kind of cohesive and suscint manner.

The romance, the intrigue, the sisterly emotions, the rivalry between matriarchs, and the "battle scene" hearken back to a time when Hollywood used to crank out these kinds of movies with some regularity. But the context between those films and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" are nearly day and night, even though both are striving for a high water mark in historical drama.

I thought "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" was technically a competent production. In fact, given the difficulties there must have been getting some of the shots I'll give it high marks as a pure production effort. But as a film I simply found it to be a touch too ambitious, and over-indulgent near the end.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy a lot of the film, because I did. Blanchet's Elizabeth is a strong woman; full of zest, energy, and a bit of anger, which she levels at her adversaries. But she's also a chief of state, internationalist, and, of course, the queen of England. She doesn't wear several hats. She wears a crown. But even so, and this is where the film falls a bit short, she doesn't demonstrate a cohesive ability to command all. She shows she's in charge, but doesn't act like she's in charge until near the end.

The film was geared and aimed at a female audience (a thing which I had not expected), and so a lot of the energy is directed at that audience, with the appropriate emotional flourishes. Combined with some so-so CGI for the action sequences (and a horse with a perm which almost had me laughing), one wonders where the film was headed. Elizabeth didn't save England with her emotional power alone, and yet this is the gist of the film. It's a real let down in this regard.

The film is a mixed blessing. There's a lot of decent acting, and some exceptional performances by the leads. Married to a rather extravagant art director to bring to life palace, throne room, chambers, and galleons at sea, and one can easily see that this was meant to be a top notch production. But some of the logical loopholes where Blanchet's character is concerned conspire with some of the story loopholes to hold back a better film.

As a guy all I can say is that it's not something I'd watch again, and I'm not too sure I'd recommend it to any female audiences. But, if you don't mind your period dramas skirting the edge of high kamp, then splurge on a ticket, and see what "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" is all about.

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